New Word: Creativifying

I've been talking with other teachers about teaching for creativity and teaching creatively. Good stuff! It seemed like, though, that we needed a new word for what we were doing--something that would capture it all up into one, concise focus. Here's what I came up! Let me know what you think in the comments! =D

How Improv can Help Students Transfer Skills

Improv is one of the best ways to see the brain working-making connections and inferences, based on understandings and knowledge.

Whose Line is it Anyway? is a show that fully rests on its participants' ability to improvise scenes, characters, and plotlines. No scripts, no memorization. On Bloom's taxonomy, the results of this type of performance are indicative of the highest intellectual behaviors, namely creating, analyzing, and applying.

While there are a few regular participants on the American version of the show, most notably Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Wayne Brady, guest participants keep things fresh. What makes this show work, though, is the fact that its primary participants have the ability to access and recall information at lightening speed. Their respective repertoires, particularly Mochrie's ability to synthesize literary and cinematic genres, Stile's ability to portray and/or mimic a character or actor, and Brady's musical adroitness, reflect a vast amount of knowledge. 

In this video excerpt, the structure, "Scenes From a Hat", finds guest Robin Williams joining the crew. As you view the video, pay particular attention to the scene "World's Worst Subject for an Interpretive Dance".

 
In this particular scene, participants have to make choices that convey at least three of the facets of understanding (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005,pp. 85-103) in order to satisfy the prompt: interpretation, application, and empathy.

In order to provide his interpretation, Ryan conveys his understanding of the concept of interpretive dance (a style that seeks to express human conditions or situations) and does so through his empathetic subject, diarrhea, as the expression.

He makes this choice in three seconds.

It is this ability to reach into the brain's already existent body of knowledge to express that knowledge in a new and different way that we want students to be able to do, isn't it?

The biggest issue is not that we're not teaching students the "What" of the curricula or the standards. We've got that handled! It is that we sometimes forget to teach them how to use what they know in different situations, what Wiggins & McTighe refer to as "transfer" (p. 78).

Much like the muscles in our body that we have "train", we can also train the brain to more effectively and expediently find/locate/access information already stored . And we can do it using these improv structures.

Consider also the collaborative potential, which requires acute awareness of a situation--a valuable skill for a reading passage or math problem and a standard for improv performance. Robin specifically seizes upon Ryan's choice of a body function to express a body non-function--impotence.  Most likely, he also does this in three seconds as well, but he appropriately and professionally "holds" for laughter and applause.

Then, Wayne immerses himself in the scene by acknowledging Robin's perspective as the "penis"and he, Wayne, as the "owner"--three seconds. Robin has to acknowledge the shift to one of collaboration, which he does when Wayne touches him, and the two then convey a dual connection to dance by applying a (albeit not very graceful) ballet-type exit. 

Can improv be used in the classroom? Absolutely. It may require a bit of establishment of protocol (e.g., in our Theatre classes we had the No P-Rule: No Profanity or Pornography), depending on your level of students. But imagine this:

Explaining a concept to students and creating "Scenes From a Hat" that would require them to use their knowledge of that concept. Recently, for example, I observed a Biology Class that discussed endocytosis and exocytosis. Imagine students prompted with something like, "World's Worst Cell Membrane". In order to satisfy the prompt, they'd have to access their understanding of the fluidity of the membrane and seek to do the opposite.


What I'd recommend (based on my experiences with varying degrees of student confidence at doing these sorts of things) is putting students into two or three groups and having them do a few rounds of the structure using scenes or props that you have selected. That way, the sense of "all eyes on me" isn't so profound.


Then, you can have volunteers do a few rounds for the class on the "fun" topics, followed by the "real" concepts you want to them to understand. What naturally occurs is that those observing soon turn their thinking towards the prompt as opposed to just "watching". That is, they begin to make the choices they would use IF they were performing.  What I would inevitably hear from those observing to those performing was "Why didn't you___?"

The ability to think quickly, coupled with the kinesthetics of this approach, will most certainly have all students authentically engaged, and if you develop your topics well, also conveying a depth of understanding.

"Scenes From a Hat" is only one of many structures. Taking a few moments out of your day to watch a few videos from this show will no doubt give you some more ideas!




 Mindy Keller-Kyriakides is the author of Transparent Teaching of Adolescents: Defining the Ideal Class for Students and Teachers.  Become part of the conversation!

Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Creatively Teaching Creativity

I decided to take a creativity quiz, today. After all, if I'm expected to teach creativity and creativeness creatively, it stands to reason that I should be creative myself. Further, I should know and understand how I function as a creative person.

After taking several quizzes (no Cosmo, though) I found The Art Institute of Vancouver's test to be the most intriguing.





Come to find out I'm whole-brained creative! I can go either way: rightie or leftie, 52%-48% respectively. Whoo-hoo!


And then, there's the possibility that the idea of R and L whatever is total snoosh. Nonetheless, I wondered if and to what degree my creativity type impacted my perceptions of students and my choice for curriculum.

I taught Beginning and Advanced Theatre, AP Language, AP Lit, and Remedial Reading. (You could say I had my hands full at the time, and I wouldn't disagree.)

Some of the questions were of things that would drive teachers crazy, such as absent-mindedness and joking around, both of which fall on the Right side. Other things we'd probably hold out as exemplary, such as students who are well-organized and predictable--Left side.

Then, I got a little cheeky and went in to see how Right-sided I could get and how Left-sided by responding in like manner. I guessed pretty well, reaching a maximum of 80% Right and 77% Left. However, that right-brained student--the spontaneous, absentminded, non-schedule following one--most teachers will have issues with.

This, Sir Ken Robinson eloquently addresses in his TED talk. If you've never seen it, do have a look. It's wonderful, and a balanced overview with Susan Cain, who presents a powerful TED Talk on the issues we have with the introverted loners--it's an eye-opener for educators.

So, pretty much, we want whole-brainers, don't we?   

We want quiet, creative, critical thinkers who actually listen to what we have to say, who master mathematical and literacy skills, who perform well in groups, but who also perform equally well, if not better, when working alone.

We want it all.

But to teach that, do we have to be whole-brainers ourselves, in the classroom? We see the "negatives" of the Right and Left students, but what about our R/L teaching creativity scale? How can we better help students enhance strengths and work on weaknesses by understanding our own?

I've changed up a few of the questions from the quiz, that might help us better understand our "Teaching Brains". Do we use our brains differently when we're teaching? For example, I have a friend who enjoys teaching to groups of students, but prefers to deal with adults one-on-one. Likewise, another friend truly enjoys joking around, but never in the classroom. Doesn't that change his/her creativity approach?

We could consider the responses using the same Likert scale as the Vancouver quiz. Have fun either way! 


Use these questions to determine your Creative Teaching Brain:

1) I prefer to teach students one-on-one.

2) I need complete quietness in order to teach.

3) I usually plan lessons systematically.

4)  I prefer to teach to a group.

5) I have the ability to teach and listen to music at the same time.

6) I enjoy teaching math.

7) I am absent-minded.

8) I prefer to teach with visuals.

9) I prefer rock music.

10) When I have to teach something, I read about how to do it, first.

11) I can easily remember what students tell me.

12) I enjoy interacting with other educators.

13) I become uneasy during long verbal explanations.

14) I enjoy joking around when I teach.

15) When I set goals for my classes, it helps keep me from procrastinating.

16) I enjoy teaching algebra.

17) I am an organized teacher.

18) I like to write or read fiction.

19) I organize curriculum to show relation between things.

20) I like to read.

21) I would choose to have students complete a paragraph summary over doing an outline.

22) I do well at geometry.

23) When I experience confusion, I go with my "gut" instinct.

24) If I were a detective, I would do well.

25) I like things, such as instructions, to be done verbally.

26) When I am giving directions to someone, I prefer to draw them a map than to explain verbally how to get somewhere.

27) It is easy for me to lose track of time when teaching.

28) I do well at things involving music such as playing an instrument or singing.

29) I do not like to joke around in my classes.

30) I like "well-structured" assignments for students more than I like "open-ended" assignments.

31) My students or co-workers consider me absent-minded.

32) The things that I have specifically studied or taught are the only things that I will usually remember.

33) I am spontaneous and unpredictable in class.

34) I enjoy drawing.

35) I can solve problems immediately and not know why my answer is correct.

36) I like to listen to classical music.

37) When I'm teaching, I use a lot of gestures.

38) I enjoy creating my own drawings and images for my classes.

39) When I have to make tough decisions, I write down the pros and cons.

40) Hypnotism does affect me, or I think it would.

41) Before going into teaching, I'd thought of becoming a poet, politician, architect, or dancer. 

42) I think that adhering to a schedule is boring.

43) I like getting all of the facts before I make any decisions.

44) I do well at expressing myself using words.

45) I enjoy writing or reading non-fiction.

46) When I am trying to go somewhere, I am usually late.

47) I do not like to follow directions.

48) When I lose something, I retrace my steps and try to remember where I saw it last.

49) I create and keep "to-do" lists for my classes.

50) When I forget a student's name, I go through the alphabet until I remember it.

51) Before teaching, I'd thought about becoming a lawyer, librarian, mathematician, lab scientist, or doctor.

52) When I look at a student, I am able to tell if he/she is guilty or not.

53) I like my students to learn through the method of free exploration.

54) I do well at spelling.


Disclaimer: this is most un-scientific.